ABERDEEN RACING ACADEMY
December Edition: Newsletter 9
INTRODUCTION
December has been an incredibly successful month for our Academy sailors, both in the Optimists and 29er team. This can only be put down to the amount of time and dedication put in by these sailors and their coaches.
With the 29er Worlds fast approaching there has been no rest for the team, schools have finished and the team has been out training every day in preparation. The pre-worlds start on the 27th December, finishing on the 29th. The 29er Worlds then start on the 2nd January. Please continue to follow our facebook page for updates, our newsletter will continue to be published over the busy period.
We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2018.
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NEWS
Southside Regatta - Opti Fleet
The 2017 Aberdeen Boat Club Southside Open Dinghy Regatta was held on the 2nd-3rd of December with a separate class for the Optimists, a total of 50 Optimists entered in what was the last ranking regatta for the year. With the Academy’s new coach Szymon Makowski and Rory providing a favourable weather/tide briefing in the mornings the team were eager to improve on their last regatta’s results.
The Optimist team had 9 Academy sailors competing. Casey Law, Juliette Clot, Carter Stewart, Emily Polson, Amaury Guillosson, Sam Badenach, Arno Zurcher, Cameron Law and Sam Johnson.
Day 1 started with a short delay while the race committee waited for the breeze to fill and the direction to settle at around 6-8 knots, with a strategy being established from the weather and tide briefing and with what was being seen on the race course the team kicked the day off in amazing fashion with Casey leading Juliette around the first mark in 1st and 2nd place respectively with Cameron, Carter and Emily all not far behind and within the top 20 at the first mark rounding the regatta was off to a great start. The breeze and tide tracked almost perfectly to what was discussed in the morning briefing with the wind fading out and clocking right before a nice build to around 10-12 knots for the 3rd and final race of the day. Casey won both the first and second race for the day and was very unlucky not to win the final race for the day coming in 3rd. Juliette managed a 6th in the first race and was in 5th positon when an accidental capsize ruined her 2nd race, with Cameron, Carter and Emily all holding down consistent results for the day somewhere in the late teens to mid-twenties with the rest of the team hovering around in the early 30’s. As the day closed out and the results posted it was Casey leading the regatta overall. Although for this regatta there are no specific age group prizes it was a ranking regatta and the same and the team were keeping a close eye on their respective age groups results with Casey was also leading the U12’s and with Emily and Cameron separated by 1 point in 1st and 2nd respectively in the U10’s.
Results for the Optimist fleet are set out below:
Southside Regatta - 29er Fleet
Hong Kong Optimist Association - 2017 Final Ranking Results
The ARA team were again well represented with Casey being crowned the U12 sailor of the year along with receiving the Manzoni award and Juliette was awarded 3rd overall in the U12’s.
All in all a great result for the young academy team showing consistent improvement in results throughout the year with the exception of Casey and Juliette the team only competed their first regatta less than 8 months ago to now have over 50% of the team finish in the top half of a very strong fleet and also taking podium positions for the overall regatta, respective age groups and overall annual rankings is an amazing result for the team.
Youth Worlds 2017
I could sum up my experience at the 2017 Youth Worlds in Sanya in one single word: WONDERFUL.
It was the first time I competed in a Youth World Championship (and hopefully not the last). I was amazed by the organization which was absolutely fantastic. All the competitors received brand new boats which were arranged perfectly with all the needed gear. The hotel was located just in front of the boat park so we could make the most out of our days without wasting time. The sign on-sign off system was so easy: our passes were exchanged for little bracelets on our way to the slipway. Each class had to wait for their class flag to come up before entering the water so boats weren’t all bunched up… It was just so well organized.
The atmosphere was great: we made friends with a bunch of all new guys coming from everywhere around the world including the Irish team, the French team, the South African team, the Norwegian team, the Argentinian team, the Chilean team, the British team… they were all very friendly and super humble.
Both Opening and Closing ceremonies were splendid; the whole stage was very colorful and full of lights. A huge screen showed all the daily videos and interviews made throughout the week. That was amazing.
ARA'S 2018 29ER WORLD TEAM
Malo and Anatole
This will be Karrie's 1st 29er Worlds. Karrie first started competing in the 29er when she sailed with Nathan Bradley in the Pre-Worlds in Los Angeles this summer. Karrie/Akira then competed at the 29er European Championships in Quiberon - France in August finishing 16th overall. Continuing on from this success they then finished 3rd on the Around the Island Race. They are both hoping to continue improving on their previous successes.
This will be Harriette's 3rd 29er Worlds, competing in Wales in 2015 and the Netherlands 2016. This will be Russell's 4th worlds, competing in Wales, the Netherlands and Los Angeles previously. Both Harriette and Russell have competed at the Youth Worlds separately and are now bringing their expertise and experience together.
This has already proven to be an eventful 29er Worlds for Lewis. Lewis' original crew has sadly fractured his back and is therefore out of the competition. A new crew has now been found in Tiger Mok, Scallywag's Navigator for the first leg of the Volvo Ocean race. Although they have not trained together yet Lewis is still very keen to improve on his result from his first 29er Worlds in Long Beach where he finished 37th in silver fleet.
Cosmos is a regular to the Academy and can usually be found coaching our squad over the holiday periods when our other coaches are overseas. Cosmos has been persuaded to step back into the 29er with Penelope to compete in what will be his 3rd 29er worlds. Penelope who is 13, joined the 29er team as a crew this summer. Penelope has already competed in the HKSF Regatta with Karrie and Southside Regatta with Cosmos. Cosmos will bring his expertise and coaching abilities to the boat and will certainly help Penelope to build on her skills.
This will be Augustin and Adam's 1st 29er worlds, Augustin/Adam have been sailing together in the 29er for the past 9 months, previously they competed in the Feva Worlds in Spain finishing 6th in the Silver fleet.
Casey will be the youngest academy member at 12 years old joining the team for the 29er Worlds. Usually Casey can be found leading the ARA team in the Optimist, Casey has bravely accepted this new challenge of the 29er and will be sailing with our most experienced crew on the team Nathan Bradley. Nathan will be able to help Casey build his skills, confidence and knowledge on the water. This will be Nathan's 7th 29er World event, previously competing in Canada, Wales, the Netherlands, Los Angeles.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Hong Kong Race Week 2018
Optimist Training Squad - Saturday Morning
For those sailors who have completed their Optimist Stage 3 or higher. This is an ideal option for those who wish to work towards the Optimist racing team. Training is every Saturday morning and Wednesday after schools. For more information please contact dinghycoach@abclubhk.com
SPONSORSHIP
SUBSCRIPTION
Aberdeen Boat Club
Email: dinghycoach@abclubhk.com
Website: http://www.abclubhk.com
Location: Aberdeen Boat Club Ltd., 20 Shum Wan Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Phone: 852 2552 8182
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aberdeenracingacademy/
Strive Fitness
Email: info@strivefitnesshk.com
Website: http://www.strivefitnesshk.com
Location: Shop 415 The Arcade Cyberport, Pokfulam Hong Kong
Phone: +852 2338 9622
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strivefitnesshk/